This invention relates to electrical connectors having insertable and removable contacts, and, in particular, to electrical connectors adapted for connecting control valves or other devices to the wiring harness of mobile equipment.
Electrical connectors for holding pin-type electrical conductor terminals have gained wide acceptance in many industrial areas. Such connectors generally include a molded body with contact holding cavities or collars which hold the pin-type electrical terminal or receptacle. Examples of such connectors may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,101,229; 3,383,637; 3,747,047; and 4,017,141. The latter patent discloses a device having a lock structure with a hinged door which snaps into place over a projecting portion of a terminal pin or receptacle in order to hold the receptacle in position.
Among the numerous varieties of available electrical connectors, some connectors have bodies which are threaded into place U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,631,375, and 2,563,712 another that provides bidirectional passages for the insertion or removal of terminals (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,082,398 and 2,593,182).
In the field of mobile hydraulic equipment, it is desirable to have an electrical connector which seals electrically operated components from the moisture and dust in which the equipment operates, provides for two, three or four point terminal connections, is simple to assemble, and can be easily disassembled for the service of the connector including replacement of the terminals or conversion of the connector from a two point connector to a three or a four point connector or vice versa. No known connector meets all of the above requirements. To the contrary, many available connectors have the pins permanently molded into the body so that any mismolding causes the scrap of expensive pins. Such permanent type pins cannot be disassembled for service. Moreover, the shrinking of the molded body from around the pins requires that an additional epoxy or sealer be applied at the pin-to-body connection.